Thread: Ideas please, No Idea where to start

You've already started.....the next step is a prototype.

This is my very inexpert opinion.......I think you might build it out of steambent beech for a frame and then cover that with a veneer or thin ply otherwise it'll be too heavy.

More opinions to follow.

Exactly as seanz has said, time for a prototype.

Chances are it wont be perfect the first time, so with each prototype document any changes, thoughts/ideas, etc.

Looks like a nice design, I like it!

I'm thinking you'd have real problems steam-bending something that thick with such tight radii.

And considering that you need to run wiring up the back to connect the LEDs & batteries, I think I'd do a slightly more complicated - but easier - build.

Glue up the 'C' shape from straight studs with triangular fillets where the inside radii are, then cut the curved shape out of that. I'd probably rout the wiring channel, recess for LEDs, battery, etc before glue up, just for simplicity of machinings sake.

Then veneer the outside to give it a solid look.

Unless you particularly want it to look like 'twas bent? (The orientation of the grain on the front & back pieces would be a giveaway that it wasn't to those who looked close enough.)

An alternative would be to laminate it up from thin strips, bending them around a form. It should also be a relatively simple matter to include a wiring channel this way... and the grain would run "right" on the front and back faces, although you'd also see the lamination joints. Still, with suitable timber selection these can be made less obvious; some very nice furniture has been made this way.


(Just throwing ideas for alternative - and easier - methods at ya! You did ask for 'em... )

Scott ,
if you could find a piano keyboard lid you might be able to use cross section pieces of that for the top and the base , complete with corners . And possibly get the straight center section out if it too .
The grain will be running in different directions , but that can be a feature that you can highlight by using a darker or lighter coloured wood in between sections

Don't forget to run the wires before gluing it all up

We have a lid down at the woodturners guild workshop , and you have given me an idea . It clicked as soon as I saw your drawing

Jock

Originally Posted by Rhys Cooper

Exactly as seanz has said, time for a prototype.

Chances are it wont be perfect the first time, so with each prototype document any changes, thoughts/ideas, etc.

Looks like a nice design, I like it!

Thanks Guys for your ideas!


It looks like ive got some experimenting to try out!

Loving the ideas, however a pinao lid may be hard to come by for cheap, unless I find a damaged piano or something like it.

Like the thinking though. I will keep my eyes out for suitable parts!!

Scott
I'd build it as a bent lamination -- you'll need a solid bending form and clamps
I'd probably use an odd number of 1-2mm thick veneers
for glue I'd use a slow setting PVA or Titebond polyurathane which gives you 20-25 minutes of assembly time